engleski

Early Dynastic IIIb Scribes: An Analyses of the Personal Names

This paper will show how the analyses of the names of the scribes (dub-sar) can contribute to the understanding of the position and status of that class in the Early Dynastic IIIb period (cca. 2450. – 2340. BC) Sumerian community. We analyzed the names of the scribes mentioned in the texts from that time so we could compare them with other preserved names from the same period. Our aim was to investigate whether there are any patterns in the name-giving among the members of the scribal class and if there is, what we can learn from it. Personal names had prominent place in the life of the individuals and their position in the community in all historical societies. Generally speaking, the names are the reflection of the fashion, ideas, and the way of life, but also of the tradition and the rules that that tradition imposed. Likewise, the personal names of the scribes also testify about their heritage, social group they belonged and by that they indicate the status their owner had in the society. In the ED IIIb period the most relevant for the analysis of the personal names is a material from the city-state Lagash, from which Struve (1984) isolated a corpus of around 1500 names. The most of the preserved names of the scribes came from the capital of that city-state, Girsu. The archive from Girsu is the only one with documented continuity. In it, on 1648 tablets, 80 officials with the scribal title appear. From Lagash we have 31 documents with only 3 scribal names.With the analyses of the names of the scribes, and with comparison with the general trends that can be identified among the preserved anthroponims from the ED IIIb period, we tried to determine the rules that scribes followed in the process of name-giving. With that we was able to isolate the tradition which they followed and the status they had.

Early Dynastic IIIb period; Girsu; scribes; personal names

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